Background
Ariyanatha Mudaliar was born in a Vellala family in Meippedu village, Tondaimandalam (the present day Kanchipuram district).
Ariyanatha Mudaliar was born in a Vellala family in Meippedu village, Tondaimandalam (the present day Kanchipuram district).
Mudaliar enjoyed a cult status in southern Tamil Nadu and became a tutelary patron figure amongst some of the region"s cattle-keeping predator groups. The Aiyaram Kaal Mandapam, or Thousand Pillared Hall, in the famous Meenakshi Temple was constructed by him in 1569. There is a statue of him at the entrance.
According to a modern descendant, he learned Tamil and Mathematics from a teacher for free and in his spare time mastered the ancient Tamil martial art of Silambam and others like sword fight and wrestling.
At the age of 16, he was encouraged to go the court of Krishnadevaraya, the king of Vijayanagara. Ariyanatha soon rose to prominence and became the chief accountant of the Vijayanagara empire.
When the Vijayanagara empire fell, he became the Delavoy (General) and the second-in command to the Vijayanagara viceroy Viswanatha Nayaka of Madurai. The process of consolidation of the Tamil region under the Vijayanagara empire began at the start of the 16th century.
The regions were brought primarily under the control of the Nayaka kingdoms of Madurai, Tanjore and Senji.
Though the different Nayaka regions were autonomous, they all acknowledged the sovereignty of the Vijayanagara and its emperor, Krishnadevaraya. During the process of consolidation, Krishnadevaraya dispatched one of his most successful generals, Nagama Nayaka, on a campaign to punish Virasekhara Chola who had plundered the petty Pandyan regions. The Pandyas were under the protection of the Vijayanagara empire.
Having put down Virasekhara, the general Nagama Nayak claimed Madurai for himself.
Viswanatha Nayak, the son of Nagama Nayak, was more loyal to the king Krishnadevaraya than to his father. He overthrew his father and handed him over to Krishnadevaraya and as a reward for his loyalty the king appointed Viswanatha Nayaka as the governor of Madurai and other provinces in the neighbouring Tamil country.
Ariyanatha Mudaliar. who led Viswantha Nayak"s army. became second-in-command and took power along with the latter in Tirunelveli in southern India. Ariyanatha Mudaliar founded the palayam or poligar system which was widely used to govern the Nayak kingdom during the late 16th century.
The system was a quasi-fedual organisation of the country, which was divided into multiple palayams or small provinces and each palayam was ruled by a palayakkarar or a petty chief
